Behaviour change interventions to improve household sanitation and hygiene practices in urban settings: A systematic scoping review.

Introduction: Behaviour change interventions have the potential to improve sanitation and hygiene practices in urban settings. However, evidence on which behaviour change interventions have successfully improved sanitation and hygiene practices in urban settings is unclear.

Methods: We performed electronic searches across five databases and one grey literature database to identify relevant studies published between January 1, 1990 and November 20, 2023 in English.

Incorporating immune checkpoint inhibitors in epithelial ovarian cancer.

Objective: Therapeutic interventions for epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) have increased greatly over the last decade but improvements outside of biomarker selected therapies have been limited. There remains a pressing need for more effective treatment options that can prolong survival and enhance the quality of life of patients with EOC. In contrast to the significant benefits of immunotherapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors (CPI) seen in many solid tumors, initial experience in EOC suggests limited efficacy of CPIs monotherapy.

Postoperative care after thoracic surgery in the times of ERAS.

This review documents the importance of postoperative interventions that accelerate the functional recovery of the thoracic surgical patient. Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) pathways aim to mitigate the harmful surgical stress response. Improvements to the entire patient pathway, by removing unnecessary care elements while introducing evidence-based interventions, have synergistic effects.

Updates in lung isolation techniques.

Innovations and challenges for lung separation or isolation have evolved during the last few years. In this chapter, we present the up-to-date, robust evidence available during the previous five years supporting the positions of the different devices, techniques, and tricks for their use in adult and pediatric patients undergoing various thoracic surgical interventions. Additionally, we presented an update on lung isolation in patients with airway difficulty and the suggested training level to master these techniques.

Postdural puncture headache: Beyond the evidence.

Despite advances in procedural techniques and equipment, postdural puncture headache (PDPH) remains a serious complication of labour epidural analgesia after accidental dural puncture (ADP). Often considered a temporary inconvenience, PDPH can be debilitating in the short term. It can also be associated with chronic manifestations and serious complications.

Navigating coagulopathy in obstetric hemorrhage: The role of point-of-care testing.

Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) remains the leading cause of maternal mortality and morbidity worldwide. Recent advances in understanding the hemostatic changes of pregnancy and PPH have led to the development of obstetric-specific approaches to resuscitation. This article aims to examine.

Uterotonics update.

Uterotonics are the mainstay of management for postpartum haemorrhage and an understanding of their use is essential for the obstetric anaesthetist. First-line uterotonics comprise oxytocin and carbetocin, which act on the oxytocin receptor, and recent research has shown that lower doses of first-line uterotonics can be used to adequate effect. The oxytocin receptor is known to undergo desensitisation with exposure to the agonist over time and with increasing concentrations.

Optimising recovery after caesarean delivery.

Caesarean delivery is the most performed inpatient surgery worldwide, with rates expected to rise. Optimising maternal recovery benefits not only the mother, but also the newborn and society. Enhanced Recovery After Caesarean delivery (ERAC) protocols standardize the approach to perioperative management of patients in order to accelerate early postoperative maternal rehabilitation.

Estimation of Central Aortic Pressure Waveforms by Combination of a Meta-Learning Neural Network and a Physics-Driven Method.

The accurate non-invasive detection and estimation of central aortic pressure waveforms (CAPW) are crucial for reliable treatments of cardiovascular system diseases. But the accuracy and practicality of current estimation methods need to be improved. Our study combines a meta-learning neural network and a physics-driven method to accurately estimate CAPW based on personalized physiological indicators.

COLOFIT: Development and Internal-External Validation of Models Using Age, Sex, Faecal Immunochemical and Blood Tests to Optimise Diagnosis of Colorectal Cancer in Symptomatic Patients.

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer in the United Kingdom and the second largest cause of cancer death.

Aim: To develop and validate a model using available information at the time of faecal immunochemical testing (FIT) in primary care to improve selection of symptomatic patients for CRC investigations.

Methods: We included all adults (≥ 18 years) referred to Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust between 2018 and 2022 with symptoms of suspected CRC who had a FIT.

Decoding Salience: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Investigation of Reward and Contextual Unexpectedness in Memory Encoding and Retrieval.

The present study investigated the neuromodulatory substrates of salience processing and its impact on memory encoding and behaviour, with a specific focus on two distinct types of salience: reward and contextual unexpectedness. 46 Participants performed a novel task paradigm modulating these two aspects independently and allowing for investigating their distinct and interactive effects on memory encoding while undergoing high-resolution fMRI. By using advanced image processing techniques tailored to examine midbrain and brainstem nuclei with high precision, our study additionally aimed to elucidate differential activation patterns in subcortical nuclei in response to reward-associated and contextually unexpected stimuli, including distinct pathways involving in particular dopaminergic modulation.

Refinement of a Published Gene-Physical Activity Interaction Impacting HDL-Cholesterol: Role of Sex and Lipoprotein Subfractions.

Large-scale gene-environment interaction (GxE) discovery efforts often involve analytical compromises for the sake of data harmonization and statistical power. Refinement of exposures, covariates, outcomes, and population subsets may be helpful to establish often-elusive replication and evaluate potential clinical utility. Here, we used additional datasets, an expanded set of statistical models, and interrogation of lipoprotein metabolism via nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based lipoprotein subfractions to refine a previously discovered GxE modifying the relationship between physical activity (PA) and HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C).

The FEBS Journal in 2025: in all science, error precedes the truth.

The FEBS Journal publishes primary papers as well as reviews in the molecular life sciences relating to the molecules and mechanisms underpinning biological processes. Editor-in-Chief Seamus Martin shares some thoughts on the nature of conducting research, some highlights of the past year at the journal, and what is in store for 2025.

Sex-associated differences in incentive salience and drinking behaviour in a rodent model of alcohol relapse.

The ability of environmental cues to trigger alcohol-seeking behaviours is thought to facilitate problematic alcohol use. Individuals' tendency to attribute incentive salience to cues may increase the risk of addiction. We sought to study the relationship between incentive salience and alcohol addiction using non-preferring rats to model the heterogeneity of human alcohol consumption, investigating both males and females.

Necrotising fasciitis in the elderly: comparison between patients aged 60 years and older and those younger than 60 years.

Introduction: Increasing age is associated with an increased incidence of necrotising fasciitis. In this study, we aimed to compare the clinical presentation, investigations, microbiology and clinical outcome in elderly (age ≥60 years) and nonelderly (age <60 years) patients with extremity necrotising fasciitis.

Methods: A retrospective review of patients with extremity necrotising fasciitis who were surgically treated between January 2005 and December 2021 was conducted.

Integrated View of Baseline Protein Expression in Human Tissues Using Public Data Independent Acquisition Data Sets.

The PRIDE database is the largest public data repository of mass spectrometry-based proteomics data and currently stores more than 40,000 data sets covering a wide range of organisms, experimental techniques, and biological conditions. During the past few years, PRIDE has seen a significant increase in the amount of submitted data-independent acquisition (DIA) proteomics data sets. This provides an excellent opportunity for large-scale data reanalysis and reuse.

Using the hospital frailty risk score to assess oesophago-gastric cancer patient outcomes: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: The inclusion of clinical frailty in the assessment of patients planned for major surgery has proven to be an independent predictor of outcome. Since approximately half of all patients in the UK diagnosed with oesophagogastric (OG) cancer are over 75 years of age, assessment of frailty may be important in selection for surgery.

Materials And Methods: This retrospective cohort study applied the Hospital Frailty Risk Score to data obtained from the NHS Secondary Uses Service electronic database for patients aged 75 years or older undergoing oesophagectomy and gastrectomy between April 2017 and March 2020.

Effect of psilocybin versus escitalopram on depression symptom severity in patients with moderate-to-severe major depressive disorder: observational 6-month follow-up of a phase 2, double-blind, randomised, controlled trial.

Background: Psilocybin therapy (PT) produces rapid and persistent antidepressant effects in major depressive disorder (MDD). However, the long-term effects of PT have never been compared with gold-standard treatments for MDD such as pharmacotherapy or psychotherapy alone or in combination.

Methods: This is a 6-month follow-up study of a phase 2, double-blind, randomised, controlled trial involving patients with moderate-to-severe MDD.

HIV interventions across the care continuum for adolescents in high-burden countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Adolescents (10-19 years old) have poor outcomes across the prevention-to-treatment HIV care continuum, leading to significant mortality and morbidity. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of interventions that documented HIV outcomes among adolescents in HIV high-burden countries.

Methods: We searched PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, and the Cochrane Library for studies published between January 2015 and September 2024, assessing at least one HIV outcome along the prevention-to-care cascade, including PrEP uptake, HIV testing, awareness of HIV infections, ARV adherence, retention, and virological suppression.

Association between glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists use and change in alcohol consumption: a systematic review.

Background: Despite the availability of various pharmacological and behavioural interventions, alcohol-related mortality is rising. This systematic review aimed to critically evaluate the existing literature on the association between glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists use (GLP-1 RAs) and alcohol consumption.

Methods: Electronic searches were conducted on Ovid Medline, EMBASE, PsycINFO, clintrials.

Digital health interventions in adult intensive care and recovery after critical illness to promote survivorship care.

Digital health refers to the field of using and developing technology to improve health outcomes. Digital health and digital health interventions (DHIs) within the area of intensive care and critical illness survivorship are rapidly evolving. Digital health interventions refer to technologies in clinical interventional format.

Sudden gains in internet cognitive therapy for social anxiety disorder in routine clinical practice.

Background: Sudden gains are large symptom improvements between consecutive therapy sessions. They have been shown to occur in randomised controlled trials of internet-delivered psychological interventions, but little is known about their occurrence when such treatments are delivered in routine clinical practice.

Objective: This study examined the occurrence of sudden gains in a therapist-guided internet-delivered Cognitive Therapy intervention for social anxiety disorder (iCT-SAD) delivered in the UK NHS talking therapies for anxiety and depression (formerly known as IAPT services).